Evening Glow

A twilight walk around our home of 27+ years...

In the twilight of life, 

Time passes like a dream...

Through laughter and tears

Love has been our central theme

In life's evening glow, 

Time keeps ticking away...

Moments that are precious

Sink behind the golden rays

Everything is changing

One second at a time

Lessons we are learning

Life isn't perfect rhyme

Nothing stays the same

Even memories fade away

Winds carry them on whispers

Into a distant day

Twilight's magic sparkles

The earth's in amber glow

Love is what's eternal

Timeless in the soul 

Written by Elizabeth Van Cleve

Today Gifts!

Today I hear the birds sing

Today the sun stretches down and kisses my face

Today my belly knows fullness

My home is the cradle of peace

and my heart holds love

Today abundance shares its unending store!

My mother's day gift; I picked it out yesterday- a peach moonstone pendant! Said to be a stone of protection, gentle love, femininity and psychic abilities; it is known to help dissipate fear and worry and balance the hormones.
A very beautiful stone with the warmth of a breezy summer afternoon!

Lunch- a very healthful miso -asian soup! Yum!

Juice Fast, Day 5

Day 5 is almost over and I am feeling a bit like pigging out on this Friday night! But woooooooooooaaaaaaaa....... NOPE! Join me at Gibson Ranch for today's update and a little discussion on the topic of whether or not fasting is safe!

>br>

Christmas at the Fountains & Cookie Baking

So Much Needs to Be Done

Here I am again, curled up on the sofa, with a journal and a bright green pencil, scratching out words that fall out from the inner world of my soul. I should be getting things done. Always, always, things need getting done. No matter how much I do, I have discovered that things still need to be done. Is this all life is? The doing of things that need to be done?

What am I striving for anyhow? To be the perfect, all-American woman? To impress someone with my clean house, or manicured yard? To revel in my children's accomplishments? Do I want to be noticed? Acknowledged? Counted worthy to receive a generous piece of the pie?

Not long ago, not very long ago at all, I held my babies close. Life was full of then- beautiful, blessed moments of sheer joy, cradled within my own two arms.

My physical eyes beheld perfection though I could not see them growing.  Soft and tiny, freshly scented with heavens perfume; my lips gently kissed their delicate skin~ love drenched affection. Their warm sweet breath tickled my neck as I rocked them to sleep upon my shoulder.

All but for a moment in time . . .

My babies are all gone now. I did not see them growing, yet they grew. I did not see their wings developing, yet they flew away.

Today, there are so many things on my to-do-list; so many things I need to get done. There is so much life still to be lived . . .

My black lab stretches lazily across the living room floor, agitating me with her incessant snoring..

Crackling sounds of pages turned comes from my daughter as she quietly reads. My husband catches up on sleep missed during the wee hours of the morning. Today is his birthday number 53.

I sit, with pencil in hand, writing out my perspective of this passing hour. Meanwhile, there is so much that needs to be done . . .

A Day at Folsom Zoo

Beautiful day at the Folsom Zoo today. We had a most unexpected and glorious surprise when my husband spotted a Bald Eagle circling over head. I watched for at least five minutes until it flew away toward Folsom Lake and out of view. The Bald Eagle is not only special because it is our national bird and a rare bird to spot, but also it has great and personal significance for me. So to see one was really a special treat, a gift given from God's hand directly to my heart.

We also were able to pet some deer. They were the sweetest little and gentlest little animals and seemed to love being scratched and petted just as much as a purring kitten. The day was just gorgeous and the animals were so laid back, napping or basking in the sun.

Afterward we ate our lunch at some picnic tables just outside the zoo. We watched a little squirrel scurry up a tree with a 1" thick rope in its mouth about four feet long. Not sure what he planned on doing with that.

Happy Birthday at Six Flags

For my birthday this year I wanted to do something FUN and with my family. Originally I had planned on going to the snow to go tubing, but we are experiencing a drought here in California and so I decided to go to Six Flags and ride roller coasters. I must say, it was quite and experience. Its been years since I have ridden on roller coasters. My son-in-law took me on the fastest most intense roller coaster the park had to break me in~ Super Man. Good thing it was a quick ride.

The weather was beautiful. Since we went on a weekday, the park was not overly crowded. A most magical moment for me was petting some stingrays. A stingray seems like an unlikely creature to ever feel a bit of magic with, but at this bath there was about seven to ten rays swimming around in a shallow lukewarm pool that was open to the public to pet them. They felt a little soft and slimy. But what became magical was the way they all began to gather around me. I asked the overseer if they liked the attention and he said that stingrays have demonstrated an attraction for human attention. They would swim over to me and flip there flippers up the side of the pool towards me as if they were trying to illicit more of my attention. It was really cute. They reminded me of dolphins in their personalities.

My daughter and I bought each other a necklace. She picked out the turtle and I picked the blue dolphin.

Riding roller coasters, petting stingrays, spending time with my family, it was all a wonderful way to begin a new year!